Sunday, April 3, 2011

1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Sport Sedan

"You'll do yourself a real favor if you remember this fact when you buy your next car: Quality without economy falls short of value, and economy without quality is unsatisfying, indeed! Chevrolet brings you both of these essentials of value – sterling goodness and money-saving economy – because it alone offers BIG-CAR QUALITY AT LOWEST COST."

1948 was the last year of the big pre-war Chevys, and at closer inspection, indeed, not much had changed since the lineup had been introduced in 1941. A revised chrome trim, a sharper bonnet and ever so slightly restyled fenders were all changes that Chevrolet's lineup had received in seven years. Anyway, the drained american car market absorbed literally anything on wheels after World War II, and the "Big Three" had no problems to sell their warmed-up designs without substantial changes over such a long time.

Chevrolet was busy preparing the introduction of it's first all-new postwar lineup for 1949, and thus the 1948 Chevys were merely a continuation of the solid 1947 models with some small touch-ups. The advertisement still focused on value, rather than styling, too. This was about to change radically in the next years, once the 50s styling-craze should kick-off.